Case Number 01034

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD

The Charge

"Simply to do the story of Jesus" with "no interruption for
theatrical embroideries. We want to get to the heart of the matter."
(George Stevens)

Opening Statement

After the success of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959, Fox), producer and
director George Stevens cast about for his next project and finally decided that
he would dedicate himself to completing a film detailing the life of Jesus
Christ -- one done with dignity and which would stand the test of time. The
film, entitled The Greatest Story Ever Told and released through United
Artists, would consume the next six years of his life. Stevens poured himself
completely into the project, which involved an onerous nine-month shoot that had
originally been planned for three months. Upon completion, however, the film was
met with mixed reaction partly due to its extreme length and somewhat ponderous
nature.

MGM has now released The Greatest Story Ever Told on DVD in a
two-disc special edition that it is trumpeting as the restored roadshow
version.

Facts of the Case

This is the story of the life of Jesus Christ, with the vast majority of the
time devoted to his adult years. All the most famous episodes in Christ's life
are lovingly recreated including His birth, the meeting with John the Baptist,
the gathering of the disciples, the Sermon on the Mount, the miracles including
the feeding of the multitude and raising of Lazarus from the dead, the cleansing
of the temple in Jerusalem, Judas' betrayal of Christ, the Last Supper, the
crucifixion, and the resurrection.

The Evidence

Creating The Greatest Story Ever Told was a monumental task. Stevens
immersed himself in the Scriptures and a truly staggering amount of material was
assembled from which the final script was developed. Carl Sandburg was even
engaged as a creative consultant to the process. Stevens traveled to the Holy
Land scouting locations, but he soon realized that almost 2,000 years of
civilization had affected the regions of Christ's life too greatly. As a result,
he turned to the American southwest for the sorts of pristine locale that he
felt necessary. Included among the chosen locations were Utah's Moab and Glen
Canyon, Nevada's Pyramid Lake, and California's Death Valley. Extensive sets (47
in total) were also constructed, both on location and on the Culver City
backlot. The total location shooting spread over some nine months, much of it a
stressful time as shooting started late and the weather was uncooperative
(unexpected snowfalls had to be cleared from the terrain). Stevens' wish to
shoot the John the Baptist sequence in the Glen Canyon area was also under
pressure, for the area was soon scheduled to become Lake Powell with the
completion of the Glen Canyon Dam.

There is much to praise in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Worthy of
particular note, for example, is the cinematography. Although the locations are
spectacular in themselves, Stevens' framing of them is magnificent. He timed
much of his shooting to gain maximum impact from sunrises or sunsets.
Contrasting textures and colours are frequently employed with the placement of
manmade objects in the landscape. Careful attention to lighting is evident
throughout. The result is almost like an art show, so beautiful do some of the
set-pieces look. Particularly memorable are the Last Supper and earlier, the
image of hundreds of people crucified all along a road that Joseph and Mary are
traveling.

In casting the film, Stevens made a most judicious choice in selecting Max
von Sydow to play Jesus. He wanted an actor not well known to the public and von
Sydow, whose work was mainly in Sweden to that point, fit the bill. The mystery
of how von Sydow would look as Jesus was further heightened by Stevens' refusal
to allow photographs to be taken of von Sydow on the set. With the film's
release, it was soon evident that von Sydow was a triumph as Jesus. He brought
both strength of will and dignity to the role as well as convincingly conveying
the innate goodness and intelligence necessary.

Stevens' other decision, to pepper the film with cameos by a large number of
Hollywood stars, was somewhat less successful. On viewing the completed film,
many raised the issue that the familiar faces in small roles were distracting.
The nature of Stevens' response was that he felt he had made the definitive
version of Jesus' life and in 40 years or more, when watching the film, no one
would know those stars and it wouldn't matter. Well, it's nearly 40 years later;
we still know the stars; and in a few cases it does matter.

One case that's not a concern is Charlton Heston as John the Baptist. Heston
is one of the best things in the film, for his sequences are filled with passion
that make them stand out from the passivity of many of the others. David
McCallum has the right look for a Judas Iscariot and Sidney Poitier conveys
resolve as Simon of Cyrene. Claude Rains, as always, is good as the old King
Herod, as is Jose Ferrer as the younger Herod. Donald Pleasance's take on Satan
is quite effective. On the other hand, Telly Savalas does an early Kojak as
Pontius Pilate; Van Heflin is too wide-eyed as Bar Amand; and John Wayne's one
line as the centurion at the crucifixion is jarring, even when you know it's
coming.

MGM's DVD presents The Greatest Story Ever Told in anamorphic
widescreen preserving the Ultra Panavision original aspect ratio of 2.75:1 and
utilizing 32 scene selections. There is an intermission before chapter 22,
although the packaging doesn't tell you that. The film is on one side of a DVD-9
disc. On the whole, the image is quite good and much of Stevens' cinematography
is well captured. Colours are vibrant. In some long shots, of which there are
many in this film, there is an apparent loss of clarity in the figures of people
that are so small compared to the vastness around them. Edge enhancement is also
noticeable from time to time, but is not a distraction on the whole. Stevens has
chosen to employ reduced lighting with the purposeful use of deep shadows from
time to time and sometimes it is difficult to be sure if the image is accurately
portraying these scenes or if it has rendered them a little too darkly. The
sequence on the mountain between Jesus and Satan is one example of this.

The original 6-track stereo has been used for the audio. This generally
provides a pleasing ambience with Alfred Newman's haunting if subdued score
nicely presented. There are few significant low frequency effects. Dialogue is
clear and distortion free. The French sound track is similarly presented. An
English stereo surround mix is also included. Subtitling is in French and
Spanish only.

On a second DVD-5 disc, MGM has included a nice selection of features. The
main one is a "new" making-of documentary called "He Walks in
Beauty." Unfortunately much of it is not new, but just repeats material
available on a previously-made featurette (also included on the disc) and
"A Filmmaker's Journey" -- George Stevens Jr.'s excellent film
biography of his father's career. Then too "He Walks in Beauty" seems
as much a general paean to George Stevens as it is a making-of documentary.
Nonetheless, it is an interesting piece worth one's time if you haven't seen the
original material it's taken from. MGM also includes an extensive photo gallery
(over 100 shots), an alternate take of the "Via Dolorosa" sequence, a
few costume sketches, the original theatrical trailer, and production notes on
the four-page disc insert.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Despite the beauty and earnestness of the film, one cannot deny that it's
long. And the methodical nature in which the story is presented can make it seem
even longer. I believe it will very much depend on your mood at the time,
whether you find it excessively so. Certainly length was a major criticism
originally, given the reverential tone of the film. Some critics even took to
calling it "The Longest Story Ever Told." Given that, despite MGM's
trumpeting that this is the restored roadshow version, we still seem to be
missing an hour of the original cut of 4 hours and 20 minutes. About this,
there's absolutely no mention by MGM. Of course, the impact of an additional
hour is unknown. Depending on where the missing material fits into the current
199 minute cut, it could make a long film just seem even longer, or it could
alter the pacing so that the film moves more swiftly than it currently seems
to.

Stevens' emphasis on the landscapes in this film results in a high
percentage of long shots that again may be annoying to some. More of concern to
me was the fact that he seems to have decided to start his long shots with the
opening credits. They're so small (and use a sort of gothic script) that you
virtually need a magnifying glass to read them, even on the 51" RPTV I used
for viewing the film. Obviously, they would have been somewhat more legible
viewed in the theatre, but I still think it's a disservice to the talent on and
off the screen to force us to work so hard to see their names.

Closing Statement

The Greatest Story Ever Told is somewhat of a mixed bag. The
cinematography and several of the key players such as von Sydow and Heston are
positives. Balanced this are a preponderance of long shots and some cameos that
are more distracting than anything else. This is a long film that requires
patience, but if you can get into its spirit, it is mesmerizing. If not, it can
be a real chore to sit through. MGM has on the whole done pretty well by the
film. The DVD transfer is not up there with the best, but certainly portions of
it are stunning. Unanswered is the issue of the missing hour from the original
release and what its impact might be.

You may have to give The Greatest Story Ever Told an hour or so, but
if you can stick with it that long, I think you'll be hooked.

The Verdict

The jury deliberated long and hard on this one, but in the end delivered a
not guilty verdict. This court is adjourned.